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Davis

Davis, California

Tuesday, March 26, 2024

Men’s Basketball Preview

Teams: UC Davis vs. Hawai’i

Records: Aggies, 9-16; Warriors, 14-10

Where: The Pavilion

When: Saturday at 2 p.m.

Who to watch: In case you didn’t already know, Eddie Miller is a playmaker.

The 6-foot-5 junior out of Antioch, Calif. proved it Saturday night against Pacific when he tied the game in the final minutes with a two-handed dunk to cap off his five-point run.

Miller was also responsible for inbounding a ball with a full-court pass to Mark Payne in the Aggies’ double-overtime win over UC Irvine in late January.

Did you know? The UC Davis men’s basketball program will celebrate its 100-year anniversary on Saturday.

Preview: UC Davis will hope to carry the momentum of Tuesday’s come-from-behind victory into Saturday’s Bracketbuster match-up.

Despite committing 14 turnovers in the first half, the Aggies changed things around to come out with the 88-78 win over Seattle.

“I have great respect for [the Redhawks] because they compete so well,” said coach Gary Stewart. “Their scheme and the matchup were excellent. We had to make a lot of adjustments on what they were doing early.”

Within 10 minutes of the opening tip, Seattle jumped ahead to a 23-14 lead. UC Davis already had 10 turnovers by that point.

The Aggies’ turnaround began with a 16-9 run to close out the half, including a half-court buzzer beater by senior Joe Harden to bring the score within five heading into the intermission.

UC Davis held on to that momentum in the second half, tying the score at 49 on a Miller three.

The Aggies iced the game with an 11-1 run in the final three minutes en route to the 88-78 non-conference win.

While Stewart is proud of his team’s ability to come out with a win, he credits Seattle for putting up a fight.

“This is a difficult venue to play in against a team that’s better than a lot of people think,” Stewart said. “We have a tendency to get excited about a shootout – our guys like to play that way. Sometimes you have to win it on the defensive end and we were able to do that in the second half.”

Harden contributed 19 points on 8-of-12 shooting. Payne added 19 points on a 6-of-11 performance.

Next up, the Aggies will host future Big West Conference member Hawaii on Saturday for the ESPNU BracketBuster. Hawaii currently competes in the Western Athletic Conference. UC Davis is 1-2 all-time in Bracketbuster games.

Saturday’s game will be broadcast on KFSG 1690 with Scott Marsh and Bill Herenda on the call. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m.

– Grace Sprague

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